Yamaha GS1 Super Rare 1981 FM Synthesizer with MIDI SN 1116

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via this auction

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Yamaha GS2 Synthesizer - One of the First FM synths

video upload by Blake Foster

"This is a Demo of the Yamaha GS2; One of yamaha's first FM synthesizers alongside the GS1. Before the DX7, there was this; A 4-Operator FM synth featuring a chorus, vibrato, Ensemble and tremolo effects. The GS2 also featured velocity and a weighted wooden keybed which feels amazing. Not sure how many were made but they're very rare and there's not many videos online about them. This demo is a raw video of me demonstrating some unique sounds of the GS2."

Synth Wizards Episode 9: Holy Grail: The Yamaha CS-80

Published on Mar 31, 2020 Syntaur

"The Synth Wizards located the holy grail of polyphonic keyboards: a Yamaha CS-80. But the last time it was turned on, it smoked instead of made music. Did we pay thousands of dollars for a pile of parts, or will we end up with a magical music machine?"

Don't miss the visit to Yamaha's synth museum in this one. The rare GS2 and VL1 are featured. Note the patch strip and loader for the GS2. You can find additional posts and demos featuring the GS2 here. There's also a section on Michael Jackson's classic Billie Jean. You can find additional posts featuring Syntaur Synth Wizards here. Catch the longer interview with Michael Boddicker here.

Follow-up: Yamaha CS-80: The Ultimate Synthesizer (Blade Runner Tribute)

UVI Introduces FM Suite - 5-Instrument Exposé of Vintage FM Synthesis

Published on Jan 24, 2019 UVI

FM Suite is a collection of 5 new and updated instruments that deliver the history of FM synthesis straight into your DAW. From the sounds of singular instruments like the dual 6-operator DX1 and 8-operator FVX-1, to the early GS2, ubiquitous DX7, and everywhere in-between, FM Suite gives you a huge range of expertly programmed and immaculately sampled vintage FM sounds made with the genuine hardware. Explore hundreds of custom-designed presets, quickly edit them with modern controls, add high-quality built-in effects, and create unique layered hybrids. FM Suite delivers the ultimate collection of authentic vintage FM sounds!

Each of the 5 instruments in FM Suite provides a detailed sound design exposé of an individual or group of vintage FM synthesizers, including a full complement of custom designed patches from iconic bass, brass, electric pianos, pads, plucks, bells and keys to experimental ambiences, fx and more.

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Rare YAMAHA Combo Products Vol.9 Original Catalogue Brochure 1982

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"33 pages in English featuring:
Combo Digital Keyboards: GS1, GS2
Electric Grand Pianos: CP-80, CP-70B
Electric Pianos: CP35, CP25, CP11, CP-30, CP-20, CP10
Symphonic Ensemble Synths: SK50D, SK30, SK20, SK15, SK10
Programmable Mwemory Synths: CS70M, CS-40M, CS-20M, CS15D, CS-15, CS-5
PLUS
Electric Guitars, Electric Basses, Effects, Amps, Mixing Consoles, Speakers & Drums"

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Inside the Yamaha GS1 & GS2

via noyselab where you'll find more.

Electronics & Music Maker, Feb 1982. Article written by Martin Christie.

Also see: MMTA SYNTHFEST 2013: Dave Bristow & The History of Yamaha FM Synthesis for insight from someone who was there at the time.

MMTA SYNTHFEST 2013: Dave Bristow & The History of Yamaha FM Synthesis

Published on Mar 18, 2013 matrixsynth·271 videos

This is a fascinating and significant bit of synthesizer history starting with the Yamaha CS80 through the DX7 from the man that was actually there. Yamaha hired Dave Bristow to showcase the Yamaha CS80 followed by asking him to provide input on their first FM synth the GS1.  It was sold as a preset synth but in the video you will see a programmer for it.  Dave was the person that Yamaha had program the presets for it followed by the GS2, DX7 and more.  You'll see the prototype for what became the DX7.  The prototype actually had a DX5 label and a huge breadboard of chips.   He co-authored "FM Theory and Applications" with Dr. John Chowing, the man that discovered FM synthesis at Stanford Unniversity, and he was a member of IRCAM.  Do not miss this. Bookmark it for when you have time if you need to. Dave also had a prototype SY77 at the event. You can see it in my video walkthrough as well as my event pics here.  An interesting side note is John Bowen was at the event, so we had both the man responsible for the presets on the Prophet-5 and other early Sequential Circuits synths, and the man behind the DX7 and other Yamaha FM presets.  Pretty incredible bit of synth history there.

Dave Bristow is part of the Music Technology group at Shoreline Community College where the MMTA Spring SYNTHFEST was held. Via Shoreline:

"Dave Bristow was born in London and began to study music on the piano at an early age. He graduated from university with a BSc in Psychology but soon turned his musical talents full-time and worked as a professional piano/keyboard player with jazz fusion, rock and folk bands. His interest in electronic music and sound steered him towards synthesizer design and development and he played a key role creating factory voicing for the well-known DX7 synthesizer and indeed most of Yamaha's FM synthesizers up to and including the SY99, and is internationally recognized as one of the important contributors to the development and voicing of FM synthesis, co-authoring a text-book on the subject with Dr John Chowning called "FM Theory and Applications". Dave has toured the world as a professional synth demonstrator teaching courses on synthesis and related acoustics in Europe and the USA. He spent three years at Pierre Boulez's music research institute, IRCAM in Paris, running a MIDI and synthesis studio and working with the visiting composers. He moved to the United States in 1995 to work with the electronic music company Emu Systems, Inc. in product development with sampling and filter based synthesizers. Following that in 2002, he began working again with Yamaha as a consultant, focusing on the introduction and support of their small format audio chip series (SMAF) for cell-phones and other mobile devices with ringtones and system sounds. More recently he ran and developed a non-profit community music school for four years on Bainbridge Island, and now spends his time teaching electronic music production and synthesis, and playing with his jazz trio."

Yamaha GS1 Demos - Digital FM Preset Keyboard Synth

Advert scan via Retro Synth Ads

"Briefly, FM digital synthesis enables the GS1 and GS2 to precisely recreate the harmonic structure of acoustically produced sounds, as well as many other sounds, by generating a brilliant range of harmonics "all at once". And all without the tedious and expensive drawbacks of other digital synthesizers."

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Yamaha GS-2 digital FM synthesizer

YouTube via superfroe | November 17, 2010

via this auction

"Just a quick "run through" of some of the sounds of the elusive GS2 (Well, I tried to be quick about it anyway...). This is one of the 2 early "precursors" to the Yamaha DX line (DX-7, DX-5, TG-77, etc.)..."




via this auction

"Original lid (legs), pedal assembly, and all the associated leg braces, power cord, and ORIGINAL magnetic sound strips (in their own booklet), and ORIGINAL FLIGHT CASE are included. The flight case is in very good shape, and holds the main unit AND the pedal assembly (please see pics). The included magnetic strips ("Yamaha GS2 Voice Library Vol. 2") are as follows: 1. Harpsichord IV Harpsichord V 2. Percussive Synth Marimba 3. Vibraphones II Glockenspiel 4. Harp Celtic Harp 5. Banjo Electronic piano V 6. Electronic Piano VI Electronic Piano VII 7. Electronic Piano VIII Acoustic Piano IV 8. Acoustic Piano V Honky Tonk Piano 9. Strings III Strings IV 10. String Ensemble II Legato Strings 11. Special Strings Staccato Strings 12. String quartet Brass V 13. Horns Electronic Organ III 14. Electronic Organ IV Electronic Organ V 15. Electronic Organ Pipe Organ 16. Church Organ I Church Organ II 17. Glass Harp Calliope 18. Pan Flute Concertina 19. Gong Splash Gong 20. Tubular Bells Untuned Bells 21. Cowbell/Agogo Bells Electronic 22. Piano-Add Strings Piano-Add Brass 23. Hand Clap Brass Split 24. Bass / Brass Vibe / Flute + 5 blank strips (each holds 2 programs) It's in good to excellent aesthetic condition for its age (again, please see pics), and is fully functional! This is a Pre-MIDI version (the GS2 "MIDI kit" can still be installed if you know where to find one. Due to the vintage of this piece, it is being offered AS-IS. Sounds great and plays nicely (nice keyboard action) [Sidenote: The previous owner told me that he aquired this unit from Bobby Caldwell (of "What you won't do for love" fame (remember him?), though I have no provenance to that effect] Apparently, he was a Yamaha endorsee in the 80's. Once patches are loaded, they stay in backup memory (even if it's unplugged, due to the battery backup) 2 fresh AA batteries installed. A PDF of the owners manual can be downloaded here: (Thanks to "Devicemanuals.com)"

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Orcsong

YouTube via RothHandle
Note the patch book / sheet / cards for the Yamaha GS2 at :52. MOTM at 4:55 on.
"This little piece was made for a trailer for a video game. This is the orc song.

This short little film was shot at Roth Händle studios in Stockholm. This is where I spend my days recording and producing bands and artists. There is a website but it was made a very long time ago and is terribly dated but you just might find some stuff of interest there...
www.roth-handle.nu"

Yamaha GS1/GS2 the First FM Synth Service Manual

via this auction

"Conmplete manual; with Two large Fold-Out Schematics. Vintage Yamaha, their first FM synthesizers. Very rare to see this manual. The manual is for both the GS1 (the "4-Op") and the GS2 (2-op) versions. Each has their own large fold old schematic in the back."

via Loscha who brought us these scans.

Yamaha's First FM Synth - The GS2 Preset FM Synth

via this auction. via Loscha.
Not the greatest shot but I've never seen or posted one before. Anyone know more about this one? I do have it on the Yamaha Gear List and Timeline as having come out in 1981. The DX7 did not come out until 1983. According to the auction details, this was Yamaha's first FM synth.

Details Google translated to English from German:
Manufacturer: Yamaha, Japan
Concept: Preset FM Synthesizer
Toner generation: 4 operators, 16stimmig polyp-hone
Sound memory: 16 sounds, loadable by magnetic cards
Keyboard: 73 weighted wood keys, notice-dynamically
Play assistance: 3 pedals (Sustain, Vibrato and Tremolo)
Effects: Ensemble, Detune (3 stages), Vibrato, Tremolo
Characteristics: The GS2 is the first FM-Synthesizer, an Midi interface can be re-tooled, it was Voice LIBRARies with in each case 48 sounds on magnetic cards available of which I 2 pieces possesses. (price at that time: S 3000, - = approx. € 220,-- per piece)
The price of the GS2 amounted to at the time of the acquisition (1984): S 116.200,-- = DM 16.600,-- = euro 8.445,--
All functions are intact, only belonged to the preservation of the sound memory changed the memory cell, can let accomplish I when desired gladly. The Yamaha GS2 is a genuine rare piece, since there are only very few copies of it. The possession for collecting tank an absolute “must”. This concerns a private auction, therefore no warranty and warranty claims can be placed! For information and questions I stand gladly under the telephone number: 0043/664/4445990 for the order!"

Yamaha Gear List and Timeline

Via GetLoFi. Kick ass find by Circuit Master. The list also includes key technology introductions like PASS (Pulse Analog Synthesizer System for the CS series). Wow! I never knew they refered it to PASS. Some key points below just in case they delete the list on us (have fun spotting your favorites : ).

1962 Fist product on their list
D-2

1966 Silicon transistor
E-2, A-3

1970 IC (Integrated Circuit)
EX-42, B-6E, B12, B-12R, E-3R, YC-20, YC-30

1975 LSI (Large Scale IC)
VCO, VCF, VCA (Voltage Control Technology)
GX-1, CSY-2, BK-2

1977 PASS(Pulse Analog Synthesizer System)
E-30, E-50, E-70, EX-1, EX-2, A-40, A-60, B-40, B-60, B-45, C-40, C-60, D-80, CS-50, CS-60, CS-80, CP20, CS-10, CS-30, CS-30L, SS30

1981 FM Tone Generator (Frequency Modulation System)
E-75, E-45, 6000, PS-10, PS-20, PS-30, GS1, GS2, CS-70M, CP11, CP25, CP35, SK15

1982 CD
A-505, B-205, B-405, B-605, B-805, C-405, C-605, 7000, HS-200, HS-500, PS-30B, PS-3(I),(S), PC-100, PSS-30, MP-1, HS-400, HS-501, PS-300, CE20, CS01, SY20, CE25, CP11W, CP7

1983 VLSI (Very Large Scale IC) MIDI
FX-1, FX-3, FX-10, FX-20, FS-100, FS-200, FS-300, FS-500, MR-1, PC-50, PS-35, PS-35S, PS-55, PS-55S, PC-1000, MK-100, YP-10, YP-20, YP-30, YP-40 · DX7, DX9, PF12, KX1, DX1, PF10, PF15

1987 AWM Tone Generator (Sampling System)
HS-4, HS-5, HS-6, HS-7, HS-8, HX-1, HX-3, HX-5, CHX-1, CVP-10, CVP-6, CVP-8, CLP-500, CLP-100, CVP-100MA, CVP-100PE, PSS-130, PSS-470, PSS-570, PSR-22, PSR-32, PSR-12, PSS-370, VSS-30, PSR-80, PSR-90, DSR-1, RX17, DX7S, TX802, ARM1, QX3, DX7-2C, WX7, RX7, V2, PF85, TX16W, TX1P

1991 GM MD
EL-30, EL-50, EL-70, EL-90, CVP-55, CVP-65, CVP-35, CVP-45, CVP-75, YPP-15, YPP-35, PSR-31, PSR-100, PSR-200, PSR-400, PSR-500, PSS-102, PSS-104, DD-11, PSR-6700, RY30, SY99, TG100

1993 VA Tone Generator (Physical Modeling System)
EL-20, EL-27, CVP-25, CVP-83, CVP-85, CVP-87, DD-3, PSR-110, PSR-210, PSR-300, PSR-310, PSR-410, PSR-510, PSR-1700, PSR-2700, TG300, VL1, CBX-K3, CBX-S3, CBX-D5, CBX-302

1996 SoftSynthesizer
CLP-311, CLP-411, CLP-511, CLP-611, CLP-811, CLP-911, DD-50, PSR-190, PSR-220, PSR-230, PSR-78, AR-100 · G1D, G50, P50m, QY700, VL70m, CS1x, CBX-PCC10, MU90, MU90B

1998 FS Tone Generator (FM + Formant Shaping System)
EL-900, CLP-810S, CLP-820, CLP-840, CLP-860, CLP-880, CVP-600, PSR-195, PSR-225, PSR-79, PSR-D1, EX5, P-200, EX5R, EX7, WX5, FS1R, CS2x, EX5S, RM1x, SU700, CBX-K2, MU100B, MU128, MU15, SW1000XG

2004 Internet Direct Connection
ELS-01/01C(STAGEA), CVP-309, CVP-307, CVP-305, CVP-303, CVP-301, PSR-3000, PSR-1500, PSR-450, PSR-295, PSR-293, PSR-175, DGX-505, DGX-305, DGX-205, DGX-203, DD-55C